A Lesson In Voice Over Direct Marketing
- Tom Dheere
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
As the VO Strategist, I define effective marketing as the art and science of developing meaningful relationships. When you treat potential clients like a cash register and your voice over direct marketing efforts are like a crowbar trying to pry that cash register open, it tends to not go the way you hope. Here's an example...
Recently, a voice actor sent me a LinkedIn invitation, which I happily accepted. I'm always up for connecting with my fellow voice actors on LinkedIn to grow my community and of course troll for students because I'm a dirty, dirty capitalist.
As soon as I accepted their LinkedIn invitation, they immediately sent me a generic message, offering their services as a voice actor. Why? Because they didn't read my LinkedIn profile and thought I was a potential voice over client.
Cringe.
This is a perfect example of what not to do. A series of mistakes were made here, so let’s break them down...
Mistake #1: They Didn't Look at my LinkedIn Profile
Since this voice actor thought I was a producer, than means they didn't even look at my LinkedIn profile. I'm sorry but there is no excuse for this. It doesn't say anywhere on my LinkedIn profile that I produce videos, ads, etc. so I don't know where they got the idea that I'm a producer. Maybe the fact I'm wearing a tie in my profile pic? Do all producers wear ties?
If you are going to engage in Direct Marketing tactics like a cold email or cold DM, you need to research your client FIRST. Google the company they work for, actually read their LinkedIn profile, and if you want to contact them via email, use a CRM like Apollo.io (FYI that's an affiliate link) to find their email address.
Mistake #2: They Sent an Impersonal Message
The message they sent me was written for everyone and no one. I imagine this template was sent to other LinkedIn connections hundreds, or possibly thousands of times.
In this age of "spray & pray" and AI-generated emails, sending a generic message is less effective than ever. On top of that, the message was sent as soon as I accepted the connection invite. There was no meaningful conversation, they went straight to solicitation.
Mistake #3: They Ended the Conversation Quickly
This wasn't a mistake as much as it was a missed opportunity.
Once I told them I'm not a voice seeker, they apologized and that was the end of the conversation.
Maybe they were embarrassed? Maybe they were late for an appointment and couldn't write more?
My guess is that they saw zero value in talking to a colleague and just moved on.
They could have turned this error into a networking opportunity, and not because I'm the VO Strategist. I've been saying for 20+ years that a voice actor's biggest asset is their fellow voice actors. But when voice actors devalue fellow voice actors, nothing good comes from it. l had a very similar experience this like this back in 2012. Same attitude and a missed opportunity to move their voice over business forward.
The Voice Over Direct Marketing Lesson
Most voice actors don't get far in the voice over industry because they create friction for themselves when they think they're being savvy and strategic. The voice actor in question didn't just miss a potential relationship; they demonstrated legacy thinking, laziness, and a lack of current business logic behind their marketing.
I don't mean to disparage this particular voice actor. What they did was all-too common.
Please take this cautionary tale to heart. Take a long, hard look at your philosophy & business model. Determine if your marketing efforts are a result of what the loudest jerk in the Facebook group says or do you have a true understanding of how things actually work in voice over today.
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As the VO Strategist, Tom Dheere has provided voice over business & marketing coaching since 2011.
He's also a voice actor with over 30 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voice over you can think of.
When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.
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